Protestant couple gets huge fine worth a hundred months of the average wage

Persecution of religious minorities gets worse. Protestant couple is punished with hefty fine for possession of religious books. Local Christians say the action is meant to weaken them.

Tashkent (AsiaNews/Agencies)
- Uzbek authorities slapped Ashraf and Nargisa Ashurov, two members of Uzbekistan's
Protestant community, with a fine worth a hundred times the minimum monthly
wage. The sentence, imposed without trial, came illegal religious books were found
at the couple's home.

On 18 March, anti-terrorist
police involved in the investigation broke into the residence and found
Christian literature. The babysitter, at the flat at the time, was handed down
the same fine in spite of the fact that she is not Christian, local sources said.

Ashraf and Nargisa have
tried in vain to argue that they had found the books when they began renting
the house, but their attempt at defending themselves was ignored.

A Protestant who knows
the couple told Forum that the
raiding authorities produced no warrants, that no trial was held and that the
fines given were "unbelievably high".

Local sources report similar
incidents in February and March, when other members of the Christian community were
fined in the cities of Samarkand and Nukus.

Under
the law, the Protestant couple is guilty of possession
of illegal books. In Uzbekistan, even owning a Bible is considered a crime and
the law on religious freedom severely restricts believers' opportunity to meet
and pray.

For the international
community, threats, violence and persecution by Uzbek authorities against religious
minorities have become commonplace.